This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Los Angeles • Jordan Spieth never saw this coming — his worst start on the PGA Tour on one of his favorite courses.

Spieth dropped six shots over the last seven holes Thursday at Riviera, capping it off with a three-putt double bogey from 8 feet for an 8-over 79 in the Northern Trust Open. It was his worst score since an 80 in the third round of the 2014 Tour Championship.

The world's No. 1 player beat only one other guy in the 144-man field. Steven Bowditch shot an 81.

Even at the end of the round, there was still a chance his score could go up. Spieth summoned a rules official to the scoring area and asked them to review video of his third shot on the ninth hole to make sure the ball didn't move.

If it did, he would be penalized one shot under Rule 18-2.

He was 16 shots behind Camilo Villegas and needing something in the low 60s to make the cut.

Spieth was coming off a tie for 20th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, when the tournament got away from him with a 74 in the third round at Pebble Beach. It was the first time since September he finished out of the top 10.

He opened the year with an eight-shot win at Kapalua.

This was a far cry.

He hit the ball where he wasn't supposed to, and he couldn't make anything on the greens. Scrambling typically isn't an issue, except that Spieth was leaving himself par putts in the 6-foot range on poa greens that get bumpy in the afternoon. It was a bad combination, and he paid dearly for it.

Thomas tapped in for par on the 18th and looked over to Fred Couples to make sure he didn't step in his line. And then Spieth's par putt ran 4 feet by the hole. He missed that one for bogey and curled in this third putt for a 6.

He missed a par putt inside 3 feet on No. 12. He took two chips to get to the green on No. 13 and scrambled for bogey. He ran a birdie putt from the fringe 5 feet by on the 15th and missed that par putt. He failed to save par from a bunker on the 16th. And then he ended with a double bogey.